1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blood circuit detaching apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a new and improved blood circuit detaching apparatus that is capable of detaching blood circuits from a dialyzer swiftly and safely in the midst of a dialyzing operation during an emergency such as a fire or earthquake.
2. Prior Art
A patient under dialysis is constrained to a dialyzer by blood circuits comprising artery and vein plastic tubes for dialysis, and accordingly, there has conventionally been recognized a necessity of swiftly detaching the blood circuits from the dialyzer during an emergency situation such as the occurrence of a fire or earthquake.
Further, with respect to the detaching operation, there must be ensured safety and the capability of carrying out a swift operation while causing no hindrance of the dialyzing operation, and that during an emergency situation the detachment is operable by a patient who is under dialysis.
In order to meet the request as much as possible, conventionally, there has widely been adopted means for clamping (squeezing to close) respective artery and vein blood circuits on the side of a dialyzer and on the side of a patient by using pairs of Pean forceps and then cutting intermediate portions of the blood circuits between the clamping positions on the side of the dialyzer and the clamping positions on the side of the patient by scissors to thereby detach the blood circuits from the dialyzer.
The detaching means comprising a combination of Pean forceps and scissors is put into a bag and is kept ready at bed side as an emergency kit.
However, in the case of the conventional detaching means comprising Pean forceps and scissors, since one hand of the patient under dialysis is connected to the blood circuits, the detaching means is operable only by the other hand. An operation of removing the Pean forceps and scissors from the bag, clamping the blood circuits by the Pean forceps and cutting them by the scissors, is very troublesome for the patient. Swift operation during an emergency while the patient is under an upset mental state is extremely difficult. Firm clamping may not be attained and cutting the blood circuits by using the scissors may even be dangerous.
In order to resolve such a problem as detaching means enabling swift one-hand operation, as shown by, for example, FIG. 16, there has been proposed and put into practical use an emergency detacher capable of clamping (A) on the side of a dialyzer, clamping (B) on the side of a patient, and circuit cutting (C), substantially simultaneously. As shown by FIG. 17, the emergency detacher is previously mounted to respective artery and vein blood circuits, and during an emergency respective pinching pieces (D) of the emergency detacher are squeezed by one hand to thereby clamp and cut the circuits.
In the case of the emergency detacher, there is certainly provided a feature in which the emergency detacher can be operated more conveniently than the combination of Pean forceps and scissors.
However, on the other hand, the detacher is of a shape and a size such that it is operable only by fingertips of one hand to simultaneously carry out the clamping and cutting operations. Therefore, about 7 kg of load is needed to perform the clamping and cutting operations by squeezing the pinching pieces (D), and there is a case in which the application of this load is difficult depending on the age, gender or physical condition of the patient. Further, according to the detacher, the squeezing operation must be carried out instantaneously since the operation involves simultaneous clamping and cutting. When the operation is interrupted midway therethrough, blood leaks out from partially cut blood circuits, which may be dangerous to the patient or a clean feeling may be lost due to the leakage of blood.
As has been described above, it is an actual situation of the conventional technology that there still is not realized means for emergency detachment in which swift and convenient operations are feasible, safety is ensured, a clean feeling is not deteriorated and one hand operation by a patient is facilitated.
It is an object of the invention to provide a new blood circuit detaching apparatus capable of resolving the above-described problems.
Hence, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a blood circuit detaching apparatus which is an apparatus for detaching dialyzing artery and vein plastic tube blood circuits from a dialyzer during an emergency. The blood circuit detaching apparatus comprises a dialyzer side clamping portion and a patient side clamping portion, both for clamping mounted blood circuits. The apparatus also comprises a circuit cutting portion arranged between the two clamping portions, and a pivotally moving cam mechanism for operating the dialyzer side clamping portion, the patient side clamping portion and the circuit cutting portion. Through operation of the cam mechanism, the blood circuits are detached from the dialyzer by carrying out a cutting operation at a circuit cutting portion after a clamping operation at the dialyzer side clamping portion and a clamping operation at the patient side clamping portion are performed.
Further, according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the blood circuit detaching apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the pivotally moving cam mechanism comprises a lever handle, a shaft to be pivoted by operating the lever handle, and cams fixed to the shaft. According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the blood circuit detaching apparatus according to the first or the second aspect, wherein the patient side clamping portion is provided with forceps members and the forceps members are attached to the blood circuits in a clamped state during the clamping operation. According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the blood circuit detaching apparatus according to any one of the first through the third aspects, further comprising a fixedly attaching portion for attaching the apparatus to a supporter. Further, according to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided the blood circuit detaching apparatus according to any one of the first through the fourth aspects, wherein the dialyzer side clamping portion, the circuit cutting portion and the patient side clamping portion are arranged in this order in an up to down direction.